A LITHERLAND school hopes to give students an edge in the jobs market after becoming one of the first to offer a GCSE in Chinese.

Litherland High is believed to be Merseyside’s first non-selective state school to take the bold step and it is predicted others will follow suit.

For the past seven years, pupils at the school – a recognised languages specialist – have been able to study formal qualifications in Chinese from the age of 11.

Even staff, including the caretaker, have completed speaking exams in Mandarin, which is notoriously hard to master because there is no alphabet in the western sense.

Instead, it has around 60,000 different characters.

The language comprises 4½ complicated tones and a single word can have several meanings.

But that did not stop Litherland High stepping up its provision to include reading, writing and speaking in a six-week course taken by 13 to 14-year-old pupils.

Now it has now taken the unusual step of offering the subject at GCSE level.

It has even hired a teacher from a sister school in Xian, the capital of China’s Shaanxi province, to ensure its first crop of students conquer the language.

Head of Chinese Karen Heath – who has herself agreed to sit the GCSE alongside students Caitlyn Neary and Kirsty Burke – said: “Chinese is so important for business and the economy and giving students these language skills can be a major asset, as it is so competitive to get jobs.

“It is not easy but the sense of achievement is amazing. I am in awe of the students and their fresh young minds really motivate me.”

The school already has plans to send GCSE students over to its sister school in China in the future to boost their chances of success.

Students William Anirah and Georgia Bond were so eager to get involved they signed up to take the qualification in their own time after school.